Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is a game seemingly five years in the making as the original debuted in 2017. The game starts out in the Mushroom Kingdom wherein Mario, his traditional friends, and his new Rabbid ones are enjoying a nice day in the garden. All of a sudden a portal opens up, sucking in parts of the kingdom as a giant wizard-like entity declares war.
With the aid of a spaceship, Mario and his friends embark on a mission to save the galaxy. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope may sound like a complicated plot but it is simpler than that. Setups aside, let’s go through what makes this sequel great and what makes it a tad disappointing.
7 Best: Better Active Combat
Everything about the combat in Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope has been improved. Players can now move around the combat environment freely. They don’t have to worry about walking in the wrong direction on accident and wasting move space like in so many other tactical RPGs.
There are free actions too like being able to slide into Goombas or Bob-ombs. The latter example gives players the opportunity to throw these activated bombs back at enemies and this still counts as a free turn. The weapons also all feel more diverse with one of the coolest being Rabbid Mario’s mechanical gloves.
6 Worst: Diverse Planets, But Restricted Access
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope feels like a direct sequel to the original along with being a spinoff to Super Mario Galaxy. The plot follows Mario and his comrades around the galaxy to find the aforementioned Sparks. Every planet they land on is diverse from rainy beaches to snowy mountains.
It is reminiscent of the planet system in the Kingdom Hearts series. The problem with that analogy is that Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is still very linear. Kingdom Hearts often allowed players to choose between two or three planets to visit in no particular order. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is not without choices, but the options could have been stronger to encourage players to seemingly write their own story.
5 Best: Rabbid Peach
The slapstick humor in the original game was one of the selling points. The Rabbids are just funny creatures with their oddly shaped bodies and constant need to scream. This is true in the sequel as well, but the physical comedy is even better.
Out of the many characters, players will meet in the game, Rabbid Peach is still the best. From taking selfies during inappropriate times to getting jealous over Edge’s allure, she is the star of the show. There are many more examples to name, but doing so would spoil the fun.
4 Worst: The Load Times
It has been said many times over at this point with Nintendo’s continued output on the Switch in 2022, but it is time for a sequel console beyond the OLED model. The graphics in Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope are not that intense, making it odd that there are so many load times. They don’t last longer than five seconds which is a positive note.
However, the frequency is out of control like the game is back in the PS1 era. When a game needs to load into an equipment menu, even if it only takes a second, there is a problem. The game is not without its fair share of glitches either which could force players to quit back to Switch’s Home menu.
3 Best: The Music
Grant Kirkhope did a great job with the first game’s soundtrack, especially with the Donkey Kong expansion. His score sounded more like a typical Mario platformer though and not one that belonged in an epic tactical RPG. This sequel added two more composers to seemingly help Kirkhope out in the hopes of making a more diverse-sounding experience.
Gareth Coker has worked on notable games such as the Ori series. The other, Yoko Shimomura, should get RPG fans hyped because she has been the composer of Kingdom Hearts since day one. She also helped compose the Mario and Luigi RPG games, so she is familiar with working with these two plumbers before. Overall, the soundtrack in Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope blows the original out of the water tenfold.
2 Worst: Inconsistent Voices
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope adds more voices than the original which is a huge step-up as far as the storytelling goes. The Nintendo-styled Rabbid characters now sport more diverse personalities than typical Rabbids. They chatter a lot during a battle but only say a word or two from their dialogue boxes outside of combat.
The same is true for most other characters except for Beep-0 and Jeanie. Both of these robots speak full lines of dialogue which is great but strange. Why were they given full lines while everyone else got restricted except in battle? The inconsistency with the voice work is a bit troubling.
1 Best: The Adjustable Difficulty
Any game that has a sliding bar of adjustable difficulty levels is a huge win for players. There are three preset difficulties including Relaxing, Average, and Demanding. After selecting one of these offerings, players can further tweak their experience.
There is even an option to become invincible in battle. Putting these options on in Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope makes it one of the more accessible RPGs from 2022. This is a Mario game at the end of the day, so it should be able to be played by gamers of all ages and skill levels.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope was released on October 20, 2022, and is available on the Switch.